Dell Inspiron 14 5000 Review and Ratings

Editors’ Rating:

Our Verdict:
The Inspiron 14 5000 brings a touch display and backlit keyboard to the mainstream starting at $599. It delivers solid quality, but we longed for a higher-resolution screen and a more responsive keyboard and touch pad. Read More…

Introduction & Design

Dell splits its bread-and-butter Inspiron notebooks into three tiers: the entry-level 3000 series; the deluxe 7000 series, like the Inspiron 15 7000 we tested last month; and the mainstream 5000 series whose 14-inch model we're reviewing here. The Inspiron 5000s are better built and have more advanced features than the 3000s, but don't have all the bells and whistles of the pricier Inspiron 7000s (which in turn are upstaged by Dell's premium XPS laptops).

The Inspiron 14 5000, for example, starts at $599 with a touch screen and backlit keyboard, along with an Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 500GB hard drive. Our review unit, which we judge the best value in the family, steps up to $749 with a Core i5 chip, 8GB of memory, and a 1TB drive plus a 12-month subscription to McAfee LiveSafe. You can buy a Core i7 model for an extra $100, but the CPU is the only difference and we don't think most consumers would notice the performance bump in day-to-day use.

In a sense, you can call our test system the center of the center: As an Inspiron 5000, it fits between the 3000 and 7000 lines, while as a 14-inch model, it's a nice compromise in size versus screen legibility between a 13.3-inch compact and a bulkier 15.6-inch laptop. Finally, it's neither the most nor least expensive Inspiron 14 5000. What's life like in the middle of the mainstream? Let's find out.

Design

Let's start with the Dell's cleanly designed exterior. The two-tone black and silver color scheme elevates this notebook out of the entry-level category, especially considering that the silver lid is real brushed aluminum. (The rest of the laptop is plastic, but we weren't necessarily looking for an all-metal design at this price point.)

The plastic used has an extra-smooth surface that hides fingerprints and dust well. It also seems plenty thick; tapping on the palm rest with a fingernail produces a solid sound with no accompanying rattles, although there's still some flex evident, especially when picking up the system one-handed (which we don't recommend for any laptop, by the way).

We suspect the thicker plastic is partly responsible for the Inspiron 14 5000's rather chunky 4.8-pound weight and 0.9-inch profile. The more expensive Inspiron 14 7000 is almost half a pound lighter and one-third thinner. We'll see later in this review that there are a couple of advantages to a thicker chassis, however.

You can always get a clue to a laptop's build quality by noting the size and consistency of gaps between parts. The Inspiron ranks highly here; it's genuinely well put together with tight, consistent fitment between all parts. We also appreciate some of the more subtle design touches such as how, when opened, the silver edge of the lid lines up with the silver edge of the chassis.